Ski team members among kings of the (Ward) Hill

The ski team may not be the best-known sports squad at WRHS, but they are a successful group.
Joyce Roberts photo They may be one of the most unheralded and often unnoticed of sports teams at Wachusett Regional, but they quietly go about their business with a high level of success and are known as one of the best around.

They are the WRHS Alpine ski team that competes at Ward Hill in Shrewsbury and can boast of some lofty performances. A season ago they finished first out of the ten-team Central MA Ski League. In doing so they sent five team members to the MIAA State Championships to compete for the state title in giant slalom and slalom. Julia Anderson, Caitlan Davis, Will Meyers, Jack Lilburn and Veronica Kucharski qualified and performed well in representing WRHS.

The returning team for 2013 is absent just a pair of skiers to graduation and will take to the slopes for their opening season competition with many returnees as well as a strong complement of freshmen and sophomores eager to compete at the high school level. Five members from each underclass have made the roster and are expected to turn in strong performances.

“We have a lot of younger skiers on the team this year that will do well,” said head coach Yury Vashugin who will be assisted by Greg Davis. “They will get some great experience in racing, and we’re counting on them to step to the plate and help us have a successful season.”

Senior co-captains will be Julia Anderson and Will Meyers, both of whom have risen to the top echelon of competing area racers. Each has a great opportunity to win their divisions, especially Anderson, who accomplished that feat a year ago. She trains on weekends at Sunday River in Maine and is on a seven-day-a-week schedule including regular practices and training with the Wachusett team.

Meyers is a strong racer as well and was invited to boys’ regional competition a year ago. His team finished first in large part due to Meyers accomplishments. Both he and Anderson will be counted on to provide leadership to the team’s younger skiers on and off the slopes.